PICTURES DRAWN
BY ATOMIC BOMB
SURVIVORS
Edited by Japan
Broadcasting
Corporation
'Unforgettable Fire is tremendously moving— more moving than any
book of photographs of the horror could be, because what is registered
is what has been burned into the minds of the survivors!'
-JOHN HERSEY, author of Hiroshima
Cr JL ^-
JjHjSmeffaofe Tire
PICTURES DRAWN BY ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS
Edited by the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
Pantheon Books, New York
r
Copyright© 1977 by NHK
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy-
right Conventions. Published in the United States by Pantheon
Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultane-
ously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Originally published in Japanese asCoka oMita and in English trans-
lation as Unforgctlabte Fire by Nippon Hoso Shuppan Kyokai, Tokyo.
English translation by World Friendship Center in Hiroshima,
supervised by Howard Schonberger and Leona Row.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Main entry under title:
Unforgettable fire.
Translation of Goka o rnita.
Includes index.
1. Hiroshima— Bombardment, 1945— Pictorial works.
I . Nippon Hoso Kyokai.
D767.25.H6G13 1981 940.54'26 80-8647
isbn 0-394-51585-4
isbn 0-394-74823-9 (pbk.)
Manufactured in the United States of America
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION
PREFACE
HIROSHIMA ON THAT DAY
CONTENTS
One THE BOMB AND I
II
Two BOMB FLASH! 8: 15 A.M.
14
Three WHAT I SAW ON THAT DAY
20
Four THE ENFLAMED CITY
29
Five WHERE IS MY CHILD? WHERE ISMYWIFE?
51
Six HANDS OF HELP
lb
Seven THE CITY OF THE DEAD
96
THE PICTURES ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB
105
INDEX
III
PREFACE
The collection of pictures about the A-Bomb experience as drawn by
the survivors was started by Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) Japan Broad-
casting Corporation. The impetus for this project came when one survi-
vor brought a hand-drawn picture to NHK's Hiroshima office The
collection was .ntroduccd on television and exhibited at the Peace Culture
Center in Hiroshima City August 1 to August 6, 1975. The exhibition hall
was filled w.th excitement and deep emotion. A notebook in which vis-
itors could wnte their impressions had been placed in the hall and was
quickly filled. More impression notes continued to come in until more
than ten notebooks were piled up. Some of these notes urged that the
pictures be displayed not only in Japan but also in foreign countries in
order that this cruel situation should be widely known
Thirty years have passed since the A-Bomb was dropped. The mem-
ory of how things were in Hiroshima at that time is being forgotten It is
therefore necessary to appeal to the people of Japan and of the world that
there be no "No More Hiroshima." The pictures in this book are only a
small part of those which were sent in by the survivors. To publish a col-
lection of these pictures as a book is very significant, since we are living in
a world in which the diffusion of nuclear weapons is threatening the exis-
tence ot all humanity.
The pictures are a vivid documentary of the miserable scenes of that
day although thirty year, have passed. The memories, etched in the
minds of the survivors, are unforgettable ! Photographs cannot express the
strong impressions which these pictures, drawn by the actual survivors
portray. We hope that all of you can understand the heart-felt cries of the
survivors as you look at the individual pictures of this collection. We
thank those of you who participated in the movement "Let Us Leave for
Posterity Pictures about the Atomic-Bomb Drawn by Citizens" and
helped in so many different ways.
June, 1975
NHK Chugoku Area Chief
Sqjl Matsumoto
HIROSHIMA ON THAT DAY
That morning
On August 6, 1945, the morning started with a cloudless blue
sky characteristic of the Inland Sea's summer. In March the big
Tokyo air raid had killed 120,000 citizens. Many other cities in
Japan were also violently bombed and burned by the American air
attacks so that many non-combatants continued to be cruelly killed.
In April American armed forces landed on Okinawa and the whole
island became a battlefield. 90,000 Japanese soldiers were killed
and 100,000 civilians died. Japanese people cried loudly that they
would fight a decisive battle on the mainland.
Hiroshima remained unharmed. A wild rumor spread that
the Americans were not bombing in Hiroshima because it was a
religious city with many Buddhist believers. Though not known
at the time, in fact, the American military had ordered that Hiro-
shima be spared from bombing raids in order to later calculate
accurately the full effects of the A-Bomb.
Hiroshima -developed on the delta at the mouth of the Ota
River that ran from the Chugoku mountains into the Seto Inland
Sea. In line with the Meiji government's policy to make the coun-
try rich and the army strong, Hiroshima became a strategic center
for the Japanese military. From Hiroshima's Ujina Port soldiers
recruited from all over Japan were sent to battle on the Asian
continent. As World War II continued, Hiroshima developed
into a major military city.
Before daybreak of August 6 an air raid alarm was given in
Hiroshima. At 7 : 00 A.M. another air raid alarm was sounded.
But at 7:31 A.M. the all clear was given. Soldiers at the anti-
aircraft machine guns on the roofs of the military installations and
munitions factories were released by an air defense order.
Just before the fateful moment the seven rivers which ran
through the city looked stagnant because of the high tide and re-
flected the deep-blue of the summer- sky. Wearing work clothes
and gaiters, with air defense hoods thrown back, people were run-
ning on the big and small bridges throughout the city. One of these
was the Aioi Bridge, an unusual T-type bridge. It was the target of
the A-Bomb. The mobilized students, even school girls, were
hurrying to the munitions factories by streetcar. A horse-drawn
farmer's cart, taking nightsoil from the city to outlying farms,
passed by at a leisurely pace with a clop-clop noise. Small clouds
of dust rose here and there among the crowded, tile-roofed houses.
These showed that work had begun on pulling down evacuated
buildings to make compulsory firelanes. Members of the Women's
Society of Labor Service, National Volunteers from the suburban
districts, and junior high school students put their lunches in the
shade of nearby trees before beginning a long day of sweaty, dusty
work.
In public offices and businesses workers had begun their jobs
after their section chiefs had given their morning instructions. In
public schools morning assemblies had begun because even during
summer vacation, students who had not been evacuated had lessons
there. Little children were busy playing in the streets. There
were even foreigners in Hiroshima. Several thousand Koreans
who had been taken from their country were working as forced
laborers in an armament factory. There were some foreign students
from Southeast Asian countries. And there were even Americans,
POW Army pilots who had been shot down. Suddenly a bell rang
in the broadcasting department of NHK. It was a warning given
from the Army Headquarters of Chugoku District. The radio an-
nouncer began to read the bulletin, "Chugoku District Army Infor-
mation. Three enemy airplanes have been spotted over the Saijo
area..." Just then there was a dreadful shaking and loud crash of
iron and concrete. The announcer was thrown into the air.
The Flash : 8 : 15
The A-Bomb, which was nicknamed "Little Boy", was dropped
from the B-29, Enola Gay. It exploded 570 meters above the
ground with a light blue flash. The diameter of the fireball was
100 meters and the temperature at its' center was 300,000° C.
Soon after the explosion black and white smoke covered the whole
city and rose thousands of meters high. The pressure of the blast
directly under the center of the explosion was from 4.5 to 6.7 tons
per square meter. Wooden houses within a radius of two kilo-
meters of the hypocenter collapsed and completely burned from the
wind and heat. The fires continued for two days. Some people
who were near the center of the explosion literally evaporated and
only their shadows remained ; others were turned to charred
corpses. Those who survived were badly burned. Usually their
clothes were scorched and burned so they were practically naked.
Their skin peeled off and hung down. They rushed to nearby fire
prevention water boxes and river banks seeking water. Friends
and relatives trapped under collapsed houses were crying for help.
But flames surrounded them so closely that they were about to burn.
Later large black drops of rain poured down. It was a deadly
rain which contained mud, ash, and other radioactive fallout.
Through burning flames and pouring black rain there was an end-
less line of injured people heading for the outskirts of the city. The
burns on their hands made the skin hang down. Their hands
looked like those of ghosts.
"Give me water."
The security functions of the army, police, prefecture, and city
agencies practically ceased. Under such circumstances medical
treatment was started by doctors and nurses who were injured
themselves. Damage to nearby army posts was rather slight and
so soldiers from them first began the relief job. Hospitals soon
became full, so public schools around the city were used as first-aid
stations. They were also crowded by the rush of wounded persons.
Countless dead bodies and seriously wounded people, who barely
breathed, were left on the road or the river-banks of the city.
Medical supplies were used up immediately because of the unim-
aginable number of wounded persons. The untreated people took
their last breath moaning, "Give me water." What is now called
radiation sickness soon appeared. People began suffering from
diarrhea as if they had dysentery, losing clumps of their hair, and
developing purple colored spots on their skin which made them look
like a map. Such people soon died, their bodies full of big maggots
they were too weak to remove.
Those who were looking for their relatives walked around in
the still smoldering city with the rescue parties. What they saw
were dead bodies piled up on the ground and filling up the rivers.
Figures of mothers who died protecting their own children were
8
especially heartbreaking. People were deeply scarred by the in-
discriminate cruelty of the new styled bomb and the dreadfuiness
oT war itself.
Among those who entered the city later, there were a large
number of people who were affected by lingering radioactivity, and
died. Cremation of dead bodies continued for many days through-
out the city. On top of some wood dead bodies were piled up, oil
poured on them, and a fire was lit. The smell of dead bodies and
the wail of sutra-chanting spread over the vast scorched desolation.
And on August 9, the second A-Bomb was dropped on Naga-
saki.
Appeal for Peace
Although many believed Hiroshima would be barren for
seventy years, amidst the ruins canna lilies bloomed and grass
flourished from the effects of radioactivity. On the first anniver-
sary of the A-Bomb a "Peace Revival Festival" was organized by
citizen groups in the city where only shacks stood. Although under
the American occupation speeches and gatherings were strictly
controlled, the festival was attended by thousands holding flags
draped in black and placards saying "World Peace from Hiro-
shima". The following year, August 6, 1947, Mayor of Hiroshima,
Mr. Hamai, read the first "Peace Declaration" at the renamed
"Peace Festival". He declared : "Those who have experienced
and fully realized the anguish and sin of war would denounce war
absolutely as the ultimate agony, and wish for peace most passion-
ately."
Despite such pleas for peace, the Soviet Union proclaimed its
possession of the A-Bomb in September 1949 ; in January 1950, the
President of the United States announced that he had ordered the
start of H-Bomb production. Five months later, the Korean War
broke out. England also began atomic development. On March
1, 1954, a tuna fishing boat from Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Fifth
Lucky Dragon, while operating near Bikini Atoll in the South
Pacific, was showered with radioactive fallout from an H-Bomb
test conducted by the United States. The chief radio operator of
the boat, Mr. Aikichi Kuboyama, died in the fall of that year from
the radiation effects of this weapon, one 600 times more powerful
than the A-Bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The Yaizu City Council passed a resolution at the end of
March, 1954, against nuclear weapons and this appeal met with
an immediate response from many other local governments in
Japan. Both Houses of the Diet passed resolutions in April to ban
the use of atomic weapons. At the same time, a movement to
circulate a petition calling for a ban on nuclear weapons arose
among the women of Hiroshima and of Suginami Ward of Tokyo.
This non-partisan movement became part of a strong current which
spread all over the nation. Twenty million signatures were col-
lected and Gensuikyo, the Japan Council Against A- and H-Bombs,
was established.
When Gensuikyo divided into factions resulting from conflicts
over the U. S.-Japan Security Treaty and the resumption of nu-
clear testing by the Soviet Union, many citizens of Hiroshima were
discouraged and silent. But in August, 1966, their hopes were
rekindled by an NHK-Hiroshima television program which at-
tempted to answer many simple questions about the A-Bomb explo-
sion. How many people were in the hypocenter area at the time of
the explosion ? Where were they from ? What kind of work did
they do ? What kind of buildings were there ? Growing out of
this program, television journalists, scientists at the Research Insti-
tute for Nuclear Medicine and Biology of Hiroshima University,
and a large number of ordinary citizens, jftincd in a movement to
recover information about and to reproduce on a scale model the
hypocenter area. The movement would also make an appeal for
peace based on the survivors' experiences of the first A-Bomb explo-
sion in history. The City of Hiroshima took over this movement
and prepared a report to the United Nations as part of the activities
of the 30th anniversary year. Even after careful investigation, the
estimate of 240,000 casualties from the A-Bomb is not considered
reliable.
Last year the movement of "Pictures about the A-Bomb Drawn
bv Hiroshima Citizens" was triggered by a single drawing brought
to NHK-Hiroshima and the enthusiasm of Hiroshima's people.
This is a new civic movement not seen since the movement to repli-
cate the hypocenter area. (Sources : "A-Bomb Record of Hiro-
shima" by Hiroshima City ; "History of Hiroshima Prefecture- A-
Bomb Materials Volume" by Hiroshima Prefecture ; "The A-Bomb
Hypocenter" by Dr. Kiyoshi Shirnizu ; a large number of drawings
contributed by the citizens.)
10
One THE BOMB AND I
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Goto Kiyoyoshi age SO (283)
This is a picture from Mt. Futaba which
overlooks Hiroshima city. Standing on the
hill I could see the shrine at its foot engulfed in
flames and Shukkeien Garden burning between
two branches of the Ota River. The fire ex-
tended to the Hiroshima Castle. Above the
city was a mushroom cloud from the Atomic
Bomb.
11
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At Yokogawa Station August 6, 1945, 8:15
A.M.
I got on a streetcar of the Kabe line about
8 : 10 A.M. The door was open and I was
standing there. As I heard the starting bell
ring, I saw a silver flash and heard an explo-
sion over the platform on which I had just
walked. Next moment everything went dark.
Instinctively I jumped down to the track
and braced myself against it. Putting a hand-
kerchief into my mouth, I covered my eyes
and cars with my hands.
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Around Yokogawa Station about 8 : 30 A.M.
I had worn a white blouse with a blue
striped pattern that day. The back fell apart
later when I washed it.
A civilian guard told us, "Please go to the
school in Misasa."
I heard a woman saying in a small voice,
"Please help me." Four or five people got
together immediately to help her. But we
couldn't move the concrete block off her no
matter how we tried. Saying, "Forgive us",
the others left her as she was and went away.
I prayed for her and then also left.
12
About 8 : 20 A.M. at Yokogawa Station
I do not know when they had gathered,
but a crowd of people were reeling and collid-
ing with each other. Soon the sun appeared
blood-red in the dark sky. When it became
a little lighter around me I saw a group of 15
or 16 adults. "Where had the children gone ?"
I wondered. Black smoke was rising here and
there and Nakahiro-cho where my parents
lived was already in flame. Apologizing in my
heart to my parents I decided to seek shelter.
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Near Yokogawa Station about 8 : 50 A.M.
A lady about 40 years old was bleeding
from her eyes.
It was getting light and I met a lady whose
eyes were bloodshot. The blood was oozing
down from the corners of the eyes along both
sides of her nose.
Unconsciously I wiped my face with my
hands and I was surprised to see that there
was blood on them. I got my mirror out of
my pocket and looked into it. I found only
a small cut on my eyebrow.
I took my khaki air-raid dress out of my
bag and put it on, tied my hair with a handker-
chief, dressed myself neatly and started walking.
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Tomoko Konishi age 58 (431-438)
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The river bank from Misasa to Mitaki
A girl was standing in the middle of the
road staring vacantly. Strange to say, her
clothes were not tattered. She was eight years
old. The wound on her head looked like a
cracked pomegranate. Silently I carried her
on my back and headed in the direction of the
Ota River.
Then I heard a girl's voice clearly from
behind a tree. "Help me, please." Her back
was completely burned and the skin peeled off
and was hanging down from her hips.
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Shinjo near Gion Bridge
* A straw-thatched cottage among bamboo
bushes was burning. Three persons were
taking furniture out. The passers-by did not
help them. They glanced at them and silently
continued on their way. A nurse was stand-
ing near the soldiers in white as if she was
watching over them. The soldiers did not
appear wounded to me. What I remember is
just the pale face and the wide-opened eyes of
one soldier lying there.
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At the bank of the Nagatsuka around 9 : 40
A.M.
The refugees walked in procession along
the bank of the river toward Gion. There was
nobody who was wearing good clothes or was
without wounds except me. Everyone was in
rags and hurt. 1 walked feeling guilty beca-
use only I still had nice clothes and was not
wounded.
A woman was walking, crying, "Can any-
one help me ?" The flesh of her side was
scooped out and bleeding profusely and I could
see her ribs. A man began to walk beside her,
saying, "Everyone has the same pain as you
have. Endure it and we will seek a shelter".
Higashi Yamamoto, Asa County
My mother, 63 years old
While lying on a potato farm in Mitaki
my mother had asked the rescue party from her
village for help and they brought her home.
Her face was larger than usual, her lips
were badly swollen, and her eyes remained
closed. The skin of both her hands was hanging
loose as if it were rubber gloves. The upper
part of her body was badly burned.
My mother passed away on August 9
before seeing the war end. My father who was
in Daiku-cho at the time of the explosion, just
as my mother was, disappeared and we have
never even found his body.
13
Two BOMB FLASH! 8:15 AM.
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Tsutomu Ojiri age 36 (867)
(Top row of circles represents the sun compared
to growing size of fireball in bottom row.)
I saw the explosion in Hatsukaichi about
10 miles away when I was five years old. This
is the way I remembered the explosion in the
five seconds before the sound reached me.
(from right to left) One second before, two
seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five sec-
onds. I imagine others saw the same scene
from Mizujiri near the Inland Sea at Saka-
machi.
14
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Kiyoshi Input age 51 (532)
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How many people saw the explosion at.
that terrible instant ! I saw the explosion
about 20 kilometers away at the red circle on
the picture. The other spot on the picture
marks the barracks for the Navy at the Otake
evacuation center.
75
Kiyoshi Innue age 51 {533-535)
16
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Sumako Yamada age 54 (439-4 il)
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Koi Nakamachi
At 8:15 A.M. on August 6 everything
was instantly covered with pink and light blue
rays. There was a strange whooshing sound
and then black rain came down.
August 6 around 8 : 20 A.M.
I had a view of Hijiyama from Hijiyama
Elementary School. Going out of an air-raid I
shelter I could see the mushroom cloud beyond I
the mountain. The top was narrower than!
below but it was getting bigger as I watched. |
I wondered what the red smoke was.
18
Hidehika Okazak
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Three WHAT I SAW ON THAT DAY
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Takehika Sakai age 53 (294-295)
20
The disaster in the old Fukuya Depart- ■
merit Store which I saw from the fourth floor oil
new Fukuya store in Hacchobori about vwcn-E
ty or thirty minutes after the A-Bomb badH
dropped. ►
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Setsuko Yamamoto age 46 (414)
22
(415)
A desperate escape from the streetcar at
Hakushima line just after the A-Romb explo-
sion.
23
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(caption at bottom of page for lower middle
picture)
What I still cannot forget is that my scis-
sors and my lunch box were both thrown onto
the floor from my emergency bag when I fell
down on the floor. Although they were within
my reach, I escaped leaving them behind. I
have always regretted not bringing them.
Why didn't I stretch out my hands to take
them ? I did not have enough presence of
mind and I am still heartsick. That pair of
scissors sent by my friend in Hawaii was a
good remembrance to me. It was sharp,
shiny, and never rusted. I have many good
memories of my lunch box, too.
(on picture, left side)
I smiled and tasted the black rain on my
hand. Parents were looking for their children
and children were crying for their parents.
Houses along the street were burning, I went
down to the river from the back-gate and
washed my hands and feet, and dampened my
clothes for the next air-raid. In the excitement
I urinated in my clothes and then washed them.
There were countless people on the riverbank.
24
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Name imthkeld by request (250)
(top middle picture)
August 6 a few minutes after 8 ; 00 A.M.
(Black ink is used to draw the scene before the
A-Bomb ; red ink immediately after the A-
Bomb exploded.)
The vice-principal who came into the
classroom immediately after the A-Bomb had
lost his glasses, his clothes were torn off, and
his arms, bloody and skinned, hung down by
his side. His face was burned black. I met
him at the doorway.
I sighed with relief and sat down at a desk
when the air-raid alarm, which was given
during the night, was called off. Suddenly
there was an unusual blue light. It was hot
and painful. Numerous pieces of glass scat-
tered and attacked me on my head, face, and
back. When I stood up and took a few steps
toward the entrance, 1 was pushed from behind
by a strong force and fell down by the doorway.
25
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Torako Hitonaka age 63 (183)
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Some burned work-clothes.
People crying for help with their heads,
shoulders, or the soles of their feet injured
by fragments of broken window glass.
Glass fragments were scattered every-
where.
She was crying, saying "Aigo ! Aigo !"
(a Korean expression of sorrow)
A burning pine tree.
A naked woman.
Naked girls crying "Stupid America !"
I was crouching in a puddle for fear of
being shot by a machine gun. My
breasts were torn.
Burned down electric power lines.
A telephone pole had burned and fallen
down.
A field of watermelons.
A dead horse.
What with dead cats, pigs, and people,
it was just a hell on earth.
9 : 30 A.M. August 6, 1945 I was on the
way from Koi station to Tokaichi.
These are tomatoes, pumpkins, water-
melons, eggplants, etc. which were scat-
tered on the field or roads in Fukushirna-
cho because of the blast.
27
Near Takanobashi a fire had already
broken out around 8 : 25 A.M. A woman's cry
for help saddened me as I could not help her.
Kanichi Ito age 72 (350)
' ' ' IS
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Please help this child !
Someone, please help this child.
Please help !
Someone, please.
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Hat.mji Takeuchi age 60 (896)
28
Four THE ENFLAMED CITY
The girl was injured on the chest and
covered with blood. She had no shoes on her
feet. Still able to think clearly she avoided
the many splintered things on the road and
trudged towards her home where her family
was waiting for her.
Passing through Matoba section, the girl
and I came to the area called Kojin-machi
Akebono-cho. On both sides of the road there
were temples. Everywhere was a sea of fire.
No road was open for us anymore except for
a narrow path and that was barely passable.
The: clothes which we earlier had dipped in
water had already dried so much that they were
almost at the point of burning. There was
no time to lose. We dipped our clothes in the
water that was stored in an air-raid shelter, and
dashed through the fires desperately.
"Awfully hot ! Is this the end of my
life ?...Oh God [...Help me!" I murmured
and prayed.
When we managed to come to a safer
place, we looked back at the path we had
dashed through. It was the most frightful
scene I had ever , witnessed in my life. Yet
even at this safer place, I found many dead
bodies lying in the air-raid shelter, under fallen
trees, and everywhere.
When we finally arrived at the girl's home
at Nakayama section, the darkness of the sum-
mer's night was already falling upon us.
29
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Magoichi Jitsukuni age 69 {93)
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About 3 : 00 P.M. August 6
Under Hijiyama suspension bridge
In reality several hundred people, not all
drawn ; were fleeing.
Next day these people were found dead.
30
Masaka Yamamura age 67 {629)
fi£_
Atsuko Tomita age 45 (iff
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Kiihie Masukawa died in 1975 "(901) .
Members of the neighborhood council
from Yamane section of Hiroshima were work-
ing on the west approach to the Tsurumi Bridge
for the Volunteer Corps on that day. When
the A-Bomb exploded, they were blown by the
blast into the river and carried by the ebbing
tide to the east approach of the Hijiyama
Bridge some 1200 feet away. There were
cries of "Please help, teacher" "To the river",
and "God help me".
32
Tomoe Harada age 52 {41m
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Yoshimi Ikeda age 51 (831)
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1 . The skin of her hands was burned, swol-
len, and hanging down.
2. A piece of wood stuck out of her right
eye and she seemed to be very much in
pain. She walked almost unconsciously.
3. I gave her a cucumber which she held
with her left hand.
4. Give me water.
5. Please give me water.
6. Please give me water.
7. Mommy.
8. (Title of picture) On the bank of the Koi
River.
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34
Ayako Uesugi age 77 (516)
At about 1 1 : 00 A.M. on August 6, 1945
on the road along the back of my house in
Funairi-Kawaguchi-cho, there were a lot of
people that looked like this.
"Help me ! I can't see anything."
"Water, water ! Give me some water !"
" Water ! I can't see anything."
35
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Foot of Mt. Hiji
Streetcar road
Help ! Mommy !
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Mt. Hiji Bridge
People who jumped into
the river and died.
corpse
V it ,
Hirano-maclii
neighborhood
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The fire started here;
Post office
Tsurumi-machi
neighborhood
The man under
the roof beam
Tai
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36
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The A-Bomb exploded when I
was near Takara-machi.
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Taisho market
neighborhood
•
A person who was running away
from Fujimicho toward Mt. Hiji,
Pieces of window glass all over
his face
Big face
Takara-machi
Kimiyo Higaki age 76 {270)
37
L #L--,J ^ J . ... .' Ma 4 >
Yokogawa Bridge above Tenma River, August
6, 1945, 8 : 30 A.M.
People crying and moaning were running to-
wards the city. I did not know why.
Steam engines were burning at Yokogawa Sta-
tion.
Tail of cow tied to wire.
Skin of girl's hip was hanging down.
"My baby is dead, isn't she ?"
Sawami Katagiri age 76 {284)
At the Aioi Bridge
On August 9, 1945, I walked around the
city looking for my husband. 'There were
many burned persons at each evacuation
center. Their injuries were quite extraordi-
nary. I was walking among many dead peo-
ple. I was too shocked to feel loneliness for my
husband. It was like hell. The sight of a
living horse burning was very striking. This
picture shows only a part of Hiroshima. The
whole city was just like this at that time.
39
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Kishiro Nagara age 72 (39)
They headed for Koi Elementary School.
She could not see through the black rain.
"Don't die, my brother !"
(title of picture) The memories of the A-
Borrib at that time, Kishiro Nagara, 2-7-4
Koi-kami, Hiroshima city.
; §t ? f-x v / 7 «m» -« «n.
TrL tf. n%.
About 9 : 00 A.M., August 6, 1945 in the neigh-
borhood of the Shinjo Bridge about 1 kilo-
meter from Hiroshima City.
Voluntary labor corps suffering from
deadly burns were returning home ; others were
escaping in a hurry to the outskirts of the
city ; many were seeking water on the other
side of the river ; some were lying under the
bamboo thicket, completely exhausted from
walking.
Masao Kobayashi age 77 (549)
40
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A group of junior high school girls seeking
shelter were all naked.
Teacher ! Teacher ! Teacher !
A sense of responsibility.
A junior high school student whose hair
had fallen out except where he had worn
a cap.
They were tired out when they were
caught in the rain.
I am 78 years old. I was living at Midori-
machi on the day of the A-Bomb blast. Around
9 : 00 A.M. that morning, when I looked out
of my window, I saw several women coming
along the street one after another toward the
Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital. I realized for
the first time, as it is sometimes said, that when
people are very much frightened hair really
does stand up on end. The women's hair was,
in fact, standing straight up and the skin of
their arms was peeled off. I supposed they
were around 30 years old.
Asa Skigemori age 81 (234)
41
Sar,*,6
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Kazuo Mahumuro died in 1977 (919)
On the stairs in front of the statue of Fleet
Admiral Kato in Hijiyama Park
Although we were lying side by side we
did not recognize each other. He heard my
voice and said, "Are you Mr. Matsumuro ?"
It was Mr. Yoshimoto. His face was dark and
swollen. He seemed unable to open his eyes
or mouth. The left side of his face, neck, and
hands, were burned. Soon we were separated.
I was bleeding from my ears, nose, and
mouth and was wounded from being crushed.
I learned later that the twelfth backbone and
the first lumbar vertebra were fractured. I
could hardly move.
42
■■■
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(J Mi "**,;?■"'>'
1. About 8 : 15 A.M. August 6, 1945
As I looked up at the sky from the back-
yard of my house, I heard the faint buzzing of
a B-29 but the plane was not visible. A few
minutes later, the all clear was sounded. The
sun was glaring in the cloudless summer sky.
I looked up and suddenly saw a strange thing.
There was a fire ball like a baseball growing
larger becoming the size of a volleyball. And
then something fell on my head. I realized
it was something like a bomb showering my
body. At that time I was 14 years old.
2. How many seconds or minutes had passed
I could not tell but regaining consciousness I
found myself lying on the ground covered with
pieces of wood. When I stood up in a frantic
effort to look around there was darkness. Ter-
ribly frightened I thought I was alone in a
world of death and groped for any light. My
fear was so great I did not think anyone would
truly understand. When 1 came to my senses
I found my clothes in shreds and I was without
my "gcta" (wooden sandals).
3. Suddenly I wondered what had happened
to my mother and sister. My mother was then
45 and my sister 5 years old. When the dark-
ness began to fade I found that there was
nothing around me. My house, the nextdoor
neighbor's house, and the next had all van-
ished. I was standing amid the ruins of my
house. No one was around, It was quiet,
very quiet, an eerie moment. I discovered
my mother in a water tank. She had fainted.
Crying out, "Mamma, Mamma", I shook her
to bring her back to her senses. After coming
to my mother began to shout madly' for my
sister, ''Elko, Eiko !"
43
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tip
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4. I wonder how much time had passed
when there were cries of searches. Children
were calling their parent's names, and parents
were calling the names of their children. We
were calling desperately for my sister and lis-
tening for her voice and looking to see her.
Suddenly Mother cried, "Oh, Eiko !" Four
or five meters away my sister's head was stick-
ing out and was calling my mother, "Oka-
chan ! I'm here !" "Haruko, Eiko is over
there !" my mother shouted to me, We ran
to save my sister. She was crushed under
the collapsed house and only her head could be
seen. "How terrible ! Be patient ! We'll
get you out now." Mother and I worked des-
perately to remove the plaster and pillars and
pulled her out with great effort. Her body
had turned purple from the bruises and her
arm was so badly wounded that we could have
placed two fingers in the wound. Strange to
say, my mother was thankfully not hurt.
I carried my sister on my back while
mother was working very hard to remove
more plaster and pillars to help those who were
crushed under the broken houses. We saw
fires start here and there like a devil's hand.
5. We three ran away, heading for Mt.
Eba. A crowd of people were running along
the street car track. All were wounded.
There was a man with his skin trailing ; an-
other man was breathing faintly, all blood-
stained ; a third man had blood spurting out
Of his head. It was just like hell !
About that time the left side of my face
became extraordinarily hot. The pain grew
worse and worse. As I walked toward Mt.
Eba I would stop and wash it with muddy
water. It was almost evening when we ap-
proached Mt. Eba. When we arrived I felt
so bad I could not stand, but I felt uneasy
sitting in a field of lotus. Then lukewarm
rain fell. I did not even have enough energy
to stand or find shelter and finally I tumbled
over. Night came and I could hear many
voices crying and groaning with pain and beg-
ging for water. Somone cried, "Damn it !
War tortures so many people who are inno-
cent !" Another said, "Ouch ! Give me
water." This person was so burned that we
couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.
The sky was red with flames. It was
burning as if scorching heaven.
44
ftyft &&
Haruko Ogasawam age 45 {95, 96, 929, 97, 98)
Funairi-nakamachi
1.2 kilometers from the center of the ex-
plosion a crowd of the wounded .were running
away. Some of them had their skin trailing
them.
Blood was spurting out of the top of his head,
(left)
Clothes torn to shreds, (middle left)
His clothes were torn from his back and his
skin was trailing, (bottom left)
Hair seemed to be cut. (right)
Skin was hanging from his arm and trailing
his body, (middle right)
45
Mikio Inoue age 72 {36)
We were on our way home. We were
walking along the streetcar line at the foot of
Hijiyama. Wherever we went we saw dead
horses and bodies lying here and there. The
remaining fires were giving off a lot of smoke.
Not a soul was in sight. It was when I crossed
Miyuki Bridge that I saw Professor Takenaka
standing at the foot of the bridge. He was
almost naked, wearing nothing but shorts, and
he had a rice ball in his right hand. Beyond
the streetcar line, the northern area was covered
by red fire burning against the sky. Far away
from the line, Ote-machi was also a sea of fire.
That day Professor Takenaka had not
gone to Hiroshima University and the A- Bomb
exploded when he was at home. He tried to
rescue his wife who was trapped under a roof-
beam but all his efforts were in vain. The
fire was threatening him also. His wife plead-
ed, "Run away, dear !" He was forced to
desert his wife and escape from the fire. He
was now at the foot of Miyuki Bridge.
But I wonder how he came to hold that
rice ball in his hand ? His naked figure,
standing there before the flames with that rice
ball looked to me as a symbol of the modest
hope of human beings.
46
47
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Kinzo Nishida age 82 (654)
The day the A-Bomb was dropped
It was about 9 : 30 A.M., August 6, 1945.
While taking my severely wounded wife out to
the riverbank by the side of the hill of Nakahiro-
machi, I was horrified, indeed, at the sight of
a stark naked man standing in the rain with
his eyeball in his palm. He looked to be in
great pain but there was nothing that I could
do for him.
I wonder what became of him. Even
today, I vividly remember the sight. It was
simply miserable.
48
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Tcrumi Nuhida age 65 (774)
August 6, 1945, 9 : 30 A.M.
A woman with her jaw missing and her
tongue hanging out of her mouth was wander-
ing around the area of Shinsho-machi in the
heavy, black rain. She was heading towards
the north crying for help. I wonder if she
survived.
49
Shigematsu Kajiyama died in 1974 {51)
50
Five WHERE IS MY CHILD?
WHERE IS MY WIFE?
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Suemi Kajiya age 69 (256)
The mother's entire back was burned but
her front was not injured. Her breasts, es-
pecially, appeared normal so that her baby was
clinging to them to suckle. The baby was
strong and moved from his mother's breasts
to the ground and back again. I guessed that
she had lain face down with her baby under
her body because her front side and her baby
remained unburned. She was unconscious.
I was afraid she would die soon and the baby's
milk would be stopped. If the baby had been
saved, and brought up he would be 30 or 31
now. This is what I saw 3 : 30 P.M., August
7.
51
II ^
About 8 : 00 A.M., August 7, on the street
in front of the former Hiroshima Broadcasting
Station
Since I was at school in Ujina I had been
exposed to radiation separately from rny par-
ents. The next morning at 7 : 30 I started
from school toward the ruins of my house in
Nobori-cho. I passed by Hijiyama. There
were few people to be seen in the scorched field.
I saw for the first time a pile of burned bodies
in a water tank by the entrance to the broad-
casting station. Then 1 was suddenly fright-
ened by a terrible sight on the street 40 to 50
meters from Shukkeien Garden. There was
a charred body of a woman standing frozen in
a running posture with one leg lifted and her
baby tightly clutched in her arms, Who on
earth could she be ? This cruel sight still
vividly remains in my mind.
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Yamagata
age
49
(495)
53
Name unknown (848)
Walking around the back gate of Shuk-
keien Garden of Hakushima-cho, I saw an in-
fant boy leaning against the gate and heard
him crying. When T approached and then
touched him, I found that he was dead. To
think that he might have been my son made
ray heart ache.
P
54
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iCi>«fo Nishioki age 39 (686)
Around noon of August 6, 1945
This is the scene of the courtyard of the
present Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital for-
merly the Kyosai Hospital. The girl sitting
in the center is me. I was gazing at my
mother and younger brother who were both
totally burned. My brother died around noon
before my eyes. A baby in this picture was
clinging to his dead mother. He probably
died the next day as he was lying rather still
beside his mother. The young boy in front of
the baby died after saying to me, "I am from
Hiroshima First Middle School. Please hand
this lunch to my mother." He entrusted me
with his Hinomaru Bcnto, a lunch of rice and
plum.
55
August 10, 1945
At Honkawa Elementary School
Two little girls about 3 and 5
years old were cooling their seriously
injured mother with paper fans.
Hiroshi Shinda age 65 (J 93)
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Yoshitada Mitsuta age 73 (178)
About 10 : 00 A.M., August 7, at the yard
of the school dormitory of Shinshu Buddhist
sect in Minami Kannon-machi three people
who looked like refugees were found dead as
shown in this picture.
A woman who seemed to be the mother
of a baby was dead. Her arms were curved as
if still holding her baby. Her body was swol-
len very round. Her face, looking upward,
had the expression of someone who was having
difficulty in breathing.
58
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Miserable, so miserable !
countless silent forms of corpses
wringing and shaking our hearts
A dead horse
abdomen swollen and torn,
entrails bleeding and forming
a pool of blood around :
The last moment of a mother and a child,
too horrible to cast a look ;
Their bloody faces,
swollen and burnt,
crushed in water bucket,
exhibits a horror in blue and black :
Corpses of girls,
collected on the river bank,
where they used to wander ;
these students of the volunteer corps,
now are gone,
without seeing their days.
59
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60
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Before noon August 8, 1 945, Kannon
Town, I returned to the ruins after the fire.
My house was the second one on the left.
An old neighbor lady with palsy had been
bedridden and burned to death. Only the
still smoldering flesh of her abdomen remained.
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Another woman who had lied with her
baby returned home to search for her older
son she had been forced to leave behind.
By removing roof tiles, she found the bones
of her boy at the bottom of the ruin.
The Kannon Bridge sank in the middle.
(upper)
A person dipped his face into a water
tank, (upper middle)
At the foot of the bridge, a dead mother is
leaning on a pillar, (right side)
61
Name unknown, housewife, (932)
At Meiji Bridge
A mother, driven half-mad while looking
for her child, was calling his name. At last
she found him. His head looked like a boiled
octopus. His eyes were half-closed, and his
mouth was white, pursed, and swollen.
62
August 10
At the stone steps of a collapsed house
along the riverside near the Dobashi area lay
this child. Perhaps he had been playing on
the stone steps. He must have been three or
four years old.
Eyeballs popped out about 3 centimeters.
His body was swollen and had turned a
brown color. His navel protruded.
' ^ -e •■■ L. i > 0) %^ »\
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47 (23)
August 6, after 5 : 00 P.M.
In front of the broadcasting station in
Nagarekawa I saw a strange thing. There was
no doubt that it was a mother and a child
burned black.
63
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Hisashi Niwa age 93 {197)
August 7, 1945 about 8 : 00 A.M.
Aioi Bridge
It was too horrifying to look into the river.
I prayed for these dead people.
The area was deserted.
This horse's intestines were laying on the
ground, clear and puffy, 3 centimeters in dia-
meter by about 2 meters in length.
Freight from horse carts was scattered over the
road.
Streetcar tracks
Streetcars turned over.
My fifth son was in the army hospital and at
this spot (•) I gave up looking for him.
Flattened concrete bridge railing
64
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Kinu Kusata age 73 (599)
Honkawa Elementary School
Here, three foreigners were dead.
Aioi Bridge
Location from which Kinu Kusata
viewed this scene.
65
Kazukiro Ishizu age 68 (373)
Kaitaichi area
"Oh Praise to Great Buddha"
A woman cycling into Hiroshima City.
She was going to rescue her child who was in
the Volunteer Corps.
66
1
JVanw unknown (576)
My sister expires, August 8
1. I, the sixth grader of primary school
2. Mom
3. I : "Never die, never !" Sis. : "You should
be the last to die !"
4. The last drip of water given by a injector
5. Pillow made up of rags
6. Torn-off curtain
The place : Motohigashi Police Station in
Ginzan-machi
Died of total burn
67
u
Masalo Une age SO {685)
A first year junior high school student
asked me to give him some water. I heard
that if people who had been exposed to the A-
Bomb drank water, they would die. So, I
would not give him water.
The next day, when I passed by the place,
he was lying on the ground dead. I wished
then that I had let him drink some water, even
if he would have died sooner. I clasped my
hands and chanted a prayer to Amitaba. I
started to worry even more about my own
child, for whom I was looking. He might have
died in such a miserable condition or be suffer-
ing pain. I left there wiping away the tears
which welled up in my eyes.
I heard in the evening that my child had
been calling "Daddy", "Mommy" and that he
had taken his last breath alone without seeing
us. That was the short life of a thirteen-year-
old !
It is twenty-nine years since my son died,
and his memory, and the miserable image of
the junior high school boy asking for water
always haunts me.
Oh, the hateful A-Bomb !
68
->
Kazuo Akiyama age 66 {518}
Most of the A-Bomb survivors were burned
all over their bodies. They were not only
naked, but also their skin came off. Suffering
from the severe pain of the burns, they were
wandering around looking for their parents,
husbands, wives, and children in the city of
Hiroshima which had been reduced to ashes.
Near Kamiyacho in Hiroshima
69
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Kazua Matmmnro died in 1977 (922)
August 7, 1945, 8:00 A.M., Takeya section
8 kilometers from the hypocenter. In search
of a place to cremate her dead child.
The burned face of the child on her back
was infested with maggots. I guess she was
thinking of putting her child's bones in a
battle helmet she had picked up. I feared she
would have to go far to find burnable material
to cremate her child.
70
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Sadako Kimura age 77 {176)
71
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Kigfi lekida age 64 [398)
Tadao Inoue age fS7 (642)
74
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Kikuno Segawa age 69 {593)
I was walking along the Hijiyama Bridge
about 3 : 00 P.M. on August 7. A woman,
who looked like an expectant mother, was
dead. At her side, a girl of about three years
of age brought some water in an empty can she
had found. She was trying to let her mother
drink from it.
As soon as I saw this miserable scene with'
the pitiful child, I embraced the girl close to
me and cried with her, telling her that her
mother was dead.
75
Six HANDS OF HELP
Iwao Fukui age 61 (702)
X
76
When the A-Bomb was dropped I was an
army ambulance sergeant of Akatsuki 4039
Corps stationed at Ninoshima Island. I saw
this scene when our rescue squad was departing
for Hiroshima from Ninoshima Pier, About
half an hour after the A-Bomb dropped small
ships and barges filled with wounded began
arriving at Ninoshima. Some people were
towed in the water by rope lashed to their
bodies and to the stern of the boats. Of course,
they were dead when they were pulled on shore.
I did not know whether or not they had already
died when they left Hiroshima or whether they
hacj died while being towed by boats too
crowded with the injured. But I still remem-
ber that miserable sight of the dead bodies
with white faces washed in sea water.
1
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Sagami Ogawa age 60 (664)
78
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Kiyoaki Ueno age 46 (850)
August 9, 1945, when I was a freshman at the
Hiroshima Teacher Training School.
After the A-Bomb dropped I helped in the
clean-up and reorganization of the Hiroshima
Teacher Training School in Shinonome Town.
This is only a sketch of what I saw at the Niho
Elementary School when I went there on an
errand. I cannot forget the scene I witnessed.
Since there was no medicine, one of the
rescue party was coating a survivor's burn with
mercurochrome, another coated it with cooking
oil, and the third person pasted newspaper over
it. I cannot forget the victim's cries at the time
the paper was being torn off ! As there were
a lot of flies, maggots were crawling in the
wounds.
The corridor of Niho Elementary School
was being used for a survivors' rescue station
even though all the windowpanes were broken.
79
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Kimiyo Higaki age 76 {271)
While fleeing toward Ogawara I stopped
at the auditorium of Fuchu Elementary School.
Seeing so many people badly injured and ask-
ing for help, I could not help crying myself. It
was terrible to see people with their faces,
hands, and legs so badly swollen. I also felt
sick from inhaling noxious gases. The army
had no medicine except mercurochrome and
it was, at best, a temporary treatment. Even
now I am anxious about what happened to
those people. I also had some mercurochrome
put on the injury to my face.
80
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81
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Yoshimi Hara age 58 (22)
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After a few days we carried the injured
people who had been on Kanawa Island to the
Otake Marine Corps Base. Each motorboat
pulled five rafts as this picture shows. On
each raft were one noncommissioned officer,
three soldiers, fifty injured people, and about
twenty of their relatives taking care of them.
We could do nothing for the injured people
but give them water. A girl spurted blood
from her artery when her pressure bandage was
taken off. There was a man whose face looked
like a broken watermelon whenever he moved
his mouth. There was just one medical or-
derly on five of such rafts !
We set sail at five in the morning and were
to arrive at Otake at one in the afternoon.
Suddenly an enemy plane flew toward us and
shot at us with machine guns. We could do
nothing but put biankets over the people.
During the attack, two of the fifty people were
killed. One was a man of fifty from Kamino-
bori-cho who got up, crawled a few feet while
calling for his wife, and then died. I heard
later that his wife was taken in another unit
and died also. The other of the two was a girl
with her family near her.
I
I
83
Satoru Yoshimoto age 44 [353)
O*
August 6, 1945 at a hospital in Takasu
Hundreds of people had come to receive
some treatment. The doctors were putting
mercurochrome on the entirely burned bodies
of these people.
84
My burn immediately after the A-Bomb explo-
sion, August 6, 1945
At that time medicine was scarce. A large
number of injured people gathered in a line
and were treated with cucumbers, cooking oil,
or mercurochrome.
i$ilil^i.<fg (#-»-;
Festering several weeks later
I scraped the festering skin again and
again with a knife. Health care : use persimm-
ons and figs ; no smoking ; no alcohol ; plain
foods ; take dokudami-grass (a bad-smelling
weed) ; avoid oily foods.
My own treatment miraculously cured my
burn.
By scraping with a knife, my skin retur-
ned to its normal condition and hair, about
six centimeters long, grew out.
I was hit by the A- Bomb on a street in Misasa
Town.
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Shiro Fujimoto age 66 (498-500)
85
The morning of August 7, 1945
I awoke to find my face terribly changed
as if it was not my face. My whole body
ached. I suffered from a fever during the
night. My mother, wife, and the Ishizu family
in whose house we lived during evacuation,
kindly took care of me. My face, especially
my mouth, felt like a rubber ball. My body
did too. The fever, which robbed me of all
energy, was more unbearable than the injury.
After one month in bed I managed to
walk again and so I rejoined my military unit.
(As I had not been directly exposed to the
bomb-flash, my illness was not too serious.)
Within a week all my comrades' hair turned a
red-brown color and fell out. They were also
bleeding from the gums and under the nails.
Gradually they became emaciated and their
burns festered all over. It looked like they
were carrying bags of water on their backs.
They all soon died.
I decided to return to Hon-in against the
advice of my friends. On the way I met Mr.
Samura, a friend of mine. Without his name
plate I could not have identified him. He said
that all his companions were killed during a
morning assembly. I advised him to go to
Hesaka Elementary School for medical treat-
ment. Then we parted.
Three soldiers who were brought here by
the ambulance squad yesterday had all died.
Each of them was swollen like a balloon doll
and their skins were the color of potatoes.
Yoshio Takakara age 66 [144, 145, 147)
86
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The condition in which I found my 40 year
old wife on the morning of August 11, 1945.
She was badly burned and had developed run-
ning sores.
I was a soldier and had left for Takamatsu
in Shikoku by orders of the Army on August 5.
So I returned home to Ushita in Hiroshima
City.
1 . She looked just like a ghost because her
eyelids were badly burned and swollen.
Fusataro Tanimine age 77 (900)
2. Her lips, swollen and protruding, made
her mouth look like a monkey's.
3. Although she was under mosquito net-
ting, the skin of her whole burned body
on which maggots were breeding had
the appearance of the crust of a crab.
She died on September 8, 1945, even
though I applied oil, seaweed, and tried every
other means I could think of to save her life.
I
87
Fumiko Yamaoka age 50 (734)
fen Nakagawa age 64 (540)
This picture is about the rescue operation
along the riverbank in Sakaimachi at 8 : 40
A.M., August 6, 1945. Navy personnel
started to rescue people in Honkawa, Enoma-
chi, and Motomachi. There were cries for
help from women, children, and old people
pinned under houses or crushed between pil-
lars. The fire spread so rapidly that 280,000
people died from burning, asphyxiation, drown-
ing, and being crushed.
The dead were sacrificed for their country.
Children, wives, fathers, and friends never
came back. I hear phantom voices crying for
help. I can not forget.
90
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13
Fusako Suma age 44 {34)
Uchikoshi town's evacuation center
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
9.
10,
11.
12.
13.
Smclled bad
Distributed rice balls
His face was covered with gauze.
Carpet made of straw
Bandage
Flies caused maggots to form on the
wounded people.
His stomach was swollen and filled with
water.
A corpse
A corpse
Fukushima River
He died as he was about to drink water.
A hole The soldiers gathered and
burned the corpse.
A dead horse
I
91
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Yoshiko Tokutomi age 66 (243)
92
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As my feet hurt after walking on tiles and
broken glass, I picked up gaiters, rolled
them into bandages, and wrapped them
around my feet.
Her face was full of splinters of glass.
This nail-puller, which I picked up be-
neath Tsurumi Bridge when the tide was
out, was of much use for people like her.
Mr. Harada, who had been the X-ray
engineer in the Health Council Center,
was severely bruised on his chest when
his house collapsed.
Such a hair style was in fashion among
women during the decisive battles of the
last war.
A member of the rescue party carrying
a stretcher.
She was so badly burned that I couldn't
see how old she was. The name tag on
her chest led me to believe she was a
schoolgirl.
Two or three months before, the City
Office bad borrowed the house from the
Taruyas in Iwabana, Yaga Town and
equipped it with things for a possible war
disaster unit.
Each health nurse was to have a tem-
porary clinic, but I was the only one who
was able to work. The hands and feet of
all the others were injured and they lay
in the City Office.
Hiroshima Rescue Station, (on flag)
Prevent Infection.
bandages
gauze
chloroform
tincture of iodine
disinfectant
mercurochrome
tincture of oil
tub
bucket
93
I
I
Otoicki Yamamoto age 87 {517)
The Terror of the A-Bomb : a miserable young
man who was completely burned.
My house was located in Funairi Town,
1.5 kilometers from the hypocenter. There we
experienced the A-Bomb and were buried
under the house. My wife and I had a narrow
escape from death because of space supported
by a wardrobe. We could not get out for
twenty or thirty minutes but finally found a
way through the ruins of the house and crawled
out. When we got to the road of Funairi
Town, many wounded people were wandering
this way and that. Some were carrying the
wounded on boards to Eba Hospital. The
chairman of the neighborhood organization
had a Japanese sword on his back and was
patrolling all over the district to help victims
of the A-Bomb. Suddenly, one man who was
stark naked came up to me and said in a qua-
vering voice, "Please help me !" He was
burned and swollen all over from the effects qf
94
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the A-Bomb. Since I did not recognize him
as my neighbor, I asked who he was. He
answered that he was Mr. Sasaki, the son of
Mr. Enriosuke Sasaki, who had a lumber
shop in Funairi Town. That morning he had
been doing volunteer labor service evacuating
the houses near the Prefectural Office in Kako
Town. He had been burned black all over
and had started back to his home in Funairi.
He looked miserable — burned sore, and naked
with only pieces of his gaiters trailing behind as
he walked. Only the part of his hair covered
by his soldier's hat was left, as if he was wear-
ing a bowl. When I touched him, his burned
skin slipped off. I did not know what to do,
so I asked a passing driver to take him to Eba
Hospital.
Soon afterward, I met the wife of my
neighbor who had also been injured by the
A- Bomb. Although her husband and I tried
to help her she died on the way to Eba Hospital.
Another neighbor could not walk because her
legs were wounded and looked like pomegran-
ates. We had to take her to the hospital by hold-
ing her under her arms. The hospital room
was full of wounded people. There I found
Mr. Sasaki whom I had met that morning.
His entire body, except for his eyes, was
covered with bandages. Sometime later I
met his mother who was very grateful to me for
having helped her son. But she told me he
had died just after noon. I was very sorry to
hear this.
I left the hospital and went across the
river near the Hiroshima Commercial High
School with my neighbors. I walked towards
Itsukaichi Town where there was a shelter and
arrived at the Itsukaichi Town Office in the'
evening.
Every year, August 6, I remember the time
of the A-Bomb explosion. I can never forget
the terror and horror of the Atomic Bomb.
95
Seven THE CITY OF THE DEAD
Akikn Takakum age 51 {340)
The corpse lying on its back on the road
had been killed immediately when the A-Bomb
was dropped. Its hand was lifted to the sky
and the fingers were burning with blue flames.
The fingers were shortened to one-third and
distorted. A dark liquid was running to the
ground along the hand. This hand must
have embraced a child before.
96
.
J
Jnnjiro Watanka age 78 {281)
August 7, 1945, 10 : 00 A.M. near Tokaichi-
Town streetcar stop
The black hair of a woman streetcar
driver remained straight. How strange !
97
Hamano Matsushita age 73 {268)
About 11 A.M. August 9 near the Tokiwa
Bridge of Osuka Town
A pile of blackened bodies bad been
gathered from the nearby ruins. They were
being cremated one after another on the river-
bed.
^Army Drill Field at Eba
It was hell on earth all over the city. I
don't think I can describe even a ten-thou-
sandth of the reality by drawing a picture or
telling a story. I think only those who ex-
perienced it can understand.
Black rain was falling.
The labels on the picture indicate moun-
tains of corpses and parts of bodies.
100
August 6 and 7
At Onaga Town, former east drill field of
the army, at the foot of Mt. Futaba. Kokuzen
Temple.
Yoshio Hamada age 58 (826) ►
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HideMko Okazaki age 50 {344)
About 5 P.M. August 6 near the terminal of the
Hakushima line
A uniformed streetcar driver lay dead on
his stomach. He might have died after leading
all the passengers to safety. Beyond the driver,
the conductor lay dead on his back still hold-
ing his fare bag. A dead young man sitting on
a cart beside the tracks was looking up towards
the sky. To the right a fire raged along the
river bank. To the left was the building of
the Communications Bureau.
102
in f — - C^ T
I L 1 ' f E. ^_
Masato Yamaskita age 52 (171)
August 9
With no one to help her, a girl died lean-
ing on the bank of the Enko River.
103
Masato Yamashita age 52 (1 '70)
August 9
On the west embankment of a military
training field was a young boy four or five
years old. He was burned black, lying on his
back, with his arms pointing toward heaven.
104
Numbers in the brackets indicate the orders received.
-
THE PICTURES ABOUT THE ATOMIC BOMB
-AN APPEAL OF THE CITIZENS
This book contains 104 pictures of a total of 975 collected
during two months from June to August 1974 in response to an
NHK television appeal entitled "Let us Leave for Posterity Pictures
about the Atomic-Bomb Drawn by Citizens". None of these pic-
tures was drawn by a professional artist. They were done by old
people such as those we pass by in the city of Hiroshima and sit
next to on the bus. Most of them had never drawn a picture since
their graduation from elementary school. In the pictures the
personal experiences of the Atomic Bomb are shown. They are
not merely the records and materials of that day thirty years ago.
Rather, each picture echoes the heartfelt cry of someone who has
been enduring sorrow and suffering for thirty years since the day the
Atomic Bomb was dropped.
It Started from a Single Picture
One day in May, 1974 Mr. Iwakichi Kobayashi, an old man
of 77 wearing geta, visited the NHK studio in Hiroshima. He had
a single picture with him and said that the T. V. drama "Hatoko
no Umi," then on the air, reminded him of the Atomic Bomb explo-
sion. He showed us his picture titled "At about 4 P.M., August
6, 1945, near Yorozuyo Bridge". In the simply and vividly drawn
picture were countless numbers of people suffering from burns and
thirsting for water. There was also a figure of a young lady
covered with a burned sheet of tin-roofing lying on the river bank.
Mr. Kobayashi explained that he was at the railway station when
the Atomic Bomb exploded. He was looking for his only son when
he witnessed the scene he had drawn. Usually we think of the
Yorozuyo Bridge as an ordinary bridge we cross and we do not
pay any attention to it because Hiroshima has many .rivers with
similar bridges.. So we were awed by the extraordinary power of
Mr. Kobayashi's picture and by the vividness of his memory even
after almost thirty years. How different this was from understand-
ing the Atomic Bomb experience by reading a story. The picture
appealed directly to our senses. Mr. Kobayashi said to us, "Even
now I can not erase the scene from my memory. Before my death
I wanted to draw it and leave it for others." Having heard his
words we made up our minds to ask the people who experienced the
Atomic Bomb to draw pictures of what they remembered on that day
JOS
which no other people really know. Just as Mr, Kobayashi was
77 years old we knew that other sufferers of the Atomic Bomb were
rapidly aging. Even in Hiroshima the number of people who did
not experience the Atomic Bomb had increased'to almost half the
population. If the Atomic Bomb experience was not recorded
soon, it would fade away with this one generation.
NHK broaclcasted in June, 1974, a local morning program
titled "A Single Picture" which was based on Mr. Kobayashi's
drawing. With that program we started an appeal "Let us Leave
for Posterity Pictures of the Atomic Bomb Drawn by Citizens".
We could not predict whether the sufferers, especially the old people,
would draw any pictures as they did not usually draw.
The Movement Spreads
As soon as the program ended, pictures were collected one after
another. It was as if a dam had broken. Half the pictures were
sent by mail while the other half were brought directly to NHK, some
by old people who could hardly walk. Some traveled a long way to
the studio and we hardly had time to receive and thank them prop-
erly. One said, "I cannot forget this scene." Others showed
their pictures explaining them feverishly, sometimes in tears. The
pictures were drawn with all kinds of tools such as pencils, crayons,
water colors, magic pens, colored pencils, and India ink. The
people used almost any kind of paper they could find such as draw-
ing paper, backs of calendars, advertising bills, and paper used for
covering sliding doors. Some drew the pictures on the backs of
children's scribbled papers, probably those of their grandchildren.
Many trained artists have drawn the miserable scene of that
day. But did you know that so many ordinary people could draw
pictures like these ? Even in Hiroshima it is said that people are
apt to forget their experiences of many long years ago. These
pictures, however, tell us that survivors cannot forget their experi-
ences.
106
m
We have mentioned on this television program and also on the
news and in announcements that the pictures about the A-Bomb
drawn by survivors should be preserved. They were sent not only
from Hiroshima Prefecture but also from other prefectures. Riding
his motorcycle through a storm wearing a soaked raincoat, Mr,
Shiro Fujimoto (p. 85) brought his picture from his home in Fuse
town, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 70 kilometers away. When we saw
his picture we were astonished to find how graphically it told us of,
his experience.
Haruko Ogasawara (p. 43) and Tomoko Konishi (p. 12) drew
the actions of that day with a series of pictures showing the times of
their occurrence. The explanations and the pictures of Hatsuji
Takeuchi (p. 28) and Ayako Uesugi (p. 35) make it almost possible
to hear the cries of these suffering people.
Almost every picture has an explanation, either on the picture
itself, on the backside of it, or on an attached sheet of paper.
When the picture does not tell the whole experience, the written
explanation helps. Using two colors, one of which is used for
drawing the scene before the explosion, the other for immediately
after the explosion, the picture on page 24 tells you that the students
standing in a line in a morning assembly were blown down by the
blast and the heat rays. Keep in mind when you look at this
picture that the artist's idea is to make unforgettable his memory of
the scene. So, imaginative devices not ordinarily employed by
artists have been used to produce these drawings.
Nine hundred pictures were collected before July 1974 and
exhibited in Peace Memorial Museum August 1-6, 29 years after
the A-Bomb. During that time about 20,000 people saw the pic-
tures. They were asked to write their impressions in notebooks and
eighteen were filled. Someone wrote, "We have never seen such
an exhibition that shows so many crudely done pictures as this.
But these drawings made a stronger impression on us than anv
others. ever did."
107
The Message the Pictures Wish to Convey
The Assembly Hall used for the exhibition should have been
twice the size originally planned for. So many pictures were sent
in and even during the exhibition many more pictures arrived. A
number of pictures were drawn at the Assembly Hall. The plann-
ed space was entirely filled, and later the walls were filled from
floor to ceiling.
While we watched people continue to bring in pictures during
the filming of the television program about the A-Bomb, we won-
dered why so many pictures were drawn in spite of their crude
techniques. Then we realized that many explanations on the pic-
tures ended with the words "gashoo" or "gashoonembutsu" mean-
ing praying hands or folded hands in prayer for the dead. "I am
not good at painting. I am very sorry that I couldn't make a pic-
ture scroll which would really tell you of the experience that I had
at that time. However, today I drew a picture and wrote an ex-
planation while in front of a Buddhist altar", Mrs. Kinu Kusata
explained on her picture.
The pictures convey what the survivors would like, known that
in drawing the picture it led them to make amends individually
for the people who died that day and to relieve the anguish of their
souls. This was related to the positive wish that others should
understand the truth of that day. As Mrs. Tsuncyo Masada, age
75, explained of the many blameless people who wanted water,
writhed in agony, and died, "I'm an old woman and not good at
writing and drawing but in spite of that I was struck'with the idea
of drawing a picture and writing an explanation so that many people
can understand my experience." Many pictures were drawn by
people in their sickbeds. Mrs. Katsu Kawano, age 82, drew five
pictures with her palsied hands. "I drew a picture with my dis-
abled hands. The scene shows only a part of the misery in my
mind from the actual experience." When we went to interview
Mrs. Hamano Matsushita about the explanation of her pictures
she was seated in her work room and said with great irritation,
"This picture couid not possibly tell you all my experiences.
Even if I drew one hundred pictures, they could not tell you of my
experiences !" As they drew their pictures, the sufferers were im-
patient and dissatisfied because they could not express their real
feelings. Drawing reminded them of their painful experiences of
30 years ago. "My hands are trembling and my heart throbs as
I think of how I should explain the reality of that situation so that
108
you can really understand," said Mrs, Michiyo Azuma, age 68.
While we collected information from the survivors we were deeply
impressed by each of their pictures. These pictures cried directly
to each viewer of the pain and destruction suffered. They did so
not because of their artistry but because of the emotions expressed.
Conclusion
"These pictures are poor in quality if you judge them for artistic
quality and techniques. We don't want you to see them as exhi-
bits in a museum. We want to tell you that these things actually
happened, that people really died in terrible pain." So wrote 59
year old Mr. Kazuo Kambara.
During the short time in which these pictures were drawn the
spread of nuclear weapons has accelerated. Nuclear tests have been
made in many countries of the world including India, which re-
cently conducted its first nuclear test. But through the pictures of
the A-Bomb sufferers, outsiders can be opened to the long closed
world of the first victims of nuclear war and learn that these pictures
condemn the folly of nations blindly pursuing a nuclear arms race.
These pictures should not be ignored. They will be valuable only
when widely shown to people who do not fully understand the
Atomic Bomb. We hope that you will grasp the heartfelt cries of
every picture for they are truly the starting point of an appeal for
peace.
. We started to receive pictures again beginning this April,
1975. We received 300 more pictures by the end of May and
while we were preparing this book many more pictures were being
drawn. Mr. Yoshio Hamada (p. 101) sent us five pictures this year
although he is still bedridden. Mrs. Haruko Ogasawara (p. 43)
also sent us some pictures. She wrote, "Some of the A-Bomb suf-
ferers are still ill from radiation sickness. I drew pictures again this
year because I want to keep handing down that horrible scene of
the A-Bombed city which will remain in my memory as long as I
live."
For one year, starting with the picture drawn by Mr. Iwakichi
Kobayashi we have continued collecting data for our television
program. We have been encouraged by the many pictures sent
to us and are very sorry that we cannot show you all of them. We
too want to pray for the great number of people who died on that
day. We express our deep appreciation to those who drew pictures
and encouraged us.
109
Ujina Port
INDEX
Akiyama, Kazuo
Enseki, Fumie
Fujimoto, Jinichi
Fujimoto, Shiro
Fukui, Iwao
Hamada, Yoshio
Hara, Yoshimi
Harada, Tomoe
Higaki, Kimiyo
Hironaka, Torako
Ichida, Yuji
Ikeda, Yoshimi
Inoue, Kiyoshi
Inoue, Mikio
Inoue, Tadao
Ishii, Rei
Ishizu, Kazuhiro
Ito, Karachi
Jitsukuni, Magoichi
Kajiya, Suemi
Kajiyama, Shigcmatsu
died in
Katagiri, Sawami
Kawakami, Kizo
Kimura, Sadako
Kiyoyoshi, Goro
Kobayashi, Jwakichi
Kobayashi, Masao
Konishi, Tomoko
Kusata, Kinu
Masukawa, Kishie
died in
Matsuinuro, Kazuo
died in
Matsushita, Hamano
Michitsuji, Yoshiko
Mitsuta, Yoshitada
Motooka, Shigcko
age
F
age
66
69
56
81
47
63
66
85
61
76,
77
58
101
58
82,
83
52
21,
33
76
36, 37,
80
63
26,
27
64
72,
73
51
34
51
15,
16
72
46
67
63,
74
48
38
68
47,
66
72
28
69
30
69
51
1974
50
76
39
71
57
77
71
80
11
80
106,
107
77
40
58
12,
13
73
65
1975
32
1977
42,
70
73
98,
99
51
29
73
58
64
60,
61
name
Motoyama, Unpin
Nagara, Kishiro
Nakagawa, Ken
Nishida, Kinzo
Nishida,' Terumi
Nishioki, Kiyoko
Niwa, Hisashi
Ogasawara, Haruko
Ogawa, Sagami
Ojifi, Tsutomu
Okazaki, Hidehiko
Sakai, Takehiko
Segawa, Kikuno
Shigemori, Asa
Shindo, Hiroshi
Suma, Fusako
Takahara, Yoshio
Takakura, Akiko
Takeuchi, Hatsuji
Tamaru, Yoshiaki
Tanimine, Fusataro
Tokutomi, Yoshiko
Tomita, Atsuko
Ueno, Kiyoaki
Uesugi, Ayako
Unc, Masato
Yamada, Sumako
Yamagata, Yasuko
Yamamoto, OLoichi
Yamamoto, Sctsuko
Yamamura, Masako
Yamaoka, Fumiko
Yamashita, Masato
Yoshimotp, Satoru
Watanabe, Jun
Wataoka, Junjiro
Name withheld by r
Name unknown
age page
76 59
72 40, 41
64 90
82 48
65 49
39 55
93 64
45 43, 44, 45
60 78
36 14
50 19, 102
53 20
69 75
81 41
65 56
44 91
66 86
51 96
60 28
66 18
77 87
66 92, 93
45 31
46 79
77 35
80 68
54 17, 56
49 52, 53
87 94, 95
46 22, 23
67 30
50 88, 89
52 103, 104
44 ■ 84
48 100
78 97
equcst 24, 25
54, 62, 67
(in alphabetical order)
History/Politics
$795
The "unforgettable fire" came to Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The actual atomic
bomb was a minuscule weapon by today's standards of destructive power. Nonethe-
less, vast sections of Hiroshima were leveled instantly, and approximately 240,000
people were casualties.
Thirty years later, those who survived still live with the memory of that moment
painfully etched in their minds. Some still hear "phantom voices crying for help."
Others cannot erase a single, painful image: a dying boy calling out for water or a
spouse or child left pinned in a flaming house.
Now, through a project of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, these survivors
have been given the chance to share their memories. The result is an extraordinary
and unforgettable document. In over one hundred vivid color drawings (all the more
powerful for the fact that none were made by professional artists) and brief, often
wrenching accompanying descriptions, the Hiroshima experience is invoked. Noth-
ing could bring home more simply or more personally the fatal human consequences
of the present escalating arms race. This book is required reading in the nuclear age.
The art in this book was a response to a request broadcast on a morning television
program in Japan for drawings from atomic bomb survivors, The results were imme-
diate. The television station was inundated with drawings. So powerful were the
survivors' desires to share their memories that they turned to whatever materials
were at hand-pencils, crayons, watercolors, Magic Markers, colored pencils, India
ink-and drew on the backs of calendars, advertisements, bills, or even the paper,
used to cover Japanese sliding doors. Some drew on the backs of children's scribbled
papers, probably those of their grandchildren.
Also available in a Pantheon hardcover edition
Cover illustration by Goro Kiyoyoshi
Cover design by Louise Fill
'
Pantheon Books, New York
.
3/81 Printed in the U.S.A. © 1981 Random House, Inc.
0-394-74823-9
j
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